Last week, I was asked by Albert Wan, friend and co-owner of Bleak House Books, to tell him what I am thankful for this year. He asked others in Hong Kong as well, such as Antony Dapiran (author of City on Fire: The Fight for Hong Kong), Louise Law (author of As If), Pete Spurrier…
“Take Control” by Magdalen Ki
On Sunday 15 November 2020, the Department of English organised a virtual graduation ceremony for MALCS students from the Class of 2019 and the Class of 2020. Here’s Dr Magdalen Ki’s speech. Dr Ki is the current Director of the MALCS programme. In a time like this, commencement ceremonies are usually held online, but good…
Announcement: Lian-Hee Wee and the Musica in Villam: Online Guqin Concert 2020
Back in the late 1980s, Lian-Hee Wee read about the Qin (aka Guqin) and was shocked to learn that this utmost important instrument to the traditional Chinese literati was (and remains) largely unknown to the ethnic Chinese community. In 2000, while in the USA, he received a newspaper cutting that motivated him to fly to Hong Kong…
Poetry Speaks: Jason S Polley’s Selection
On Shakespeare, Proust, Loss, and Longingby Jason S Polley The equally sonorous and reflective opening two lines of Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 30”, “When to the sessions of sweet silent thought, / I summon up remembrance of things past,” cannot help but conjure Marcel Proust’s inimitable seven-volume novel À la recherche du temps perdu, a title that…
Poetry Speaks: John Wakefield’s Selection
This is an anti-war, anti-group-identity song that I listened to more times than I can count during my junior high and high school years growing up in Lincoln, Nebraska. It is by the British band Pink Floyd from their album The Dark Side of the Moon. The lyrics are by Roger Waters. 1. The first…
Poetry Speaks: Sarah Lee’s Selection
What connections do we, in 21st century Hong Kong, have with a poem written by an American more than 50 years ago? An animation by the Poetry Foundation of Muriel Rukeyser’s “I Lived in the First Century of World Wars” (1968) illustrates this ingeniously by putting side by side images from 1968 and 2018, enabling…
Poetry Speaks: Emily Chow-Quesada’s Selection
The feeling of loneliness might be straightforward for some, but it can also be paradoxical. The pandemic and social distancing has kept a lot of people confined to their homes. Some find themselves literally alone while others are crowded in tiny flats with their parents, siblings, children, partners, and pets. Those are the people you…
Announcement: “Taking a Stand: Engaging in Public Discourse through Advanced Research and Writing”
The “Taking a Stand” seminar series is a core component of the GE Capstone course “Taking a Stand: Engaging in Public Discourse through Advanced Research and Writing” (GCAP3056), co-hosted by the Department of English Language and Literature and the Language Centre at Hong Kong Baptist University. The course is currently organised and taught by Dr…
Poetry Speaks: Lian-Hee Wee’s Selection
Tang Yin (1470-1524), commonly known as Tong Pak Fu in Hong Kong, was a Ming Dynasty poet. Contrary to the popular belief that he was an affluent philanderer, his talents and arrogance in his youth brought him only a miserable life, reducing him to selling pornographic paintings at brothels to make ends meet. His poems, calligraphy and…
Announcement: ENG’s Benedict Rowlett is a winner of the Faculty of Arts Performance Award in Early Career Teaching
Dr Benedict Rowlett, an Assistant Professor at the Department of English, is one of the winners of the Faculty of Arts Performance Award in Early Career Teaching. The Awards Presentation Ceremony will be held on Wednesday 26 August 2020 at 4:00 p.m. You may click here to find out who the awardees are. After many years as…
Announcement: Whip-Smart and Specialized: Hong Kong PhD Fellowship @ HKBU ENG
In a bid to recruit doctoral applicants from around the globe, this four-part series showcases Literature and Language colleagues from Hong Kong Baptist University’s Department of English. Each salon pairs two professors, who, once they’ve individually highlighted their established and ongoing research ideas/projects, open the floor to general and specific questions about the Hong Kong…
Announcement: Professor Sirkant Sarangi @ HKBU
The Department welcomed Professor Sirkant Sarangi (Aalborg University) to Hong Kong Baptist University for Department of English’s Research Postgraduate Seminar Series on “Exploring Professional/Health Communication through Discourse Analysis: Research Topics and Methods” (9-11 January 2020). Sponsored by the University Grants Committee, the HKBU Department of English Language and Literature, and the Master of Arts in…
“The Poet’s Obligations Toward Freedom” by Lian-Hee Wee
• What do I understand to be freedom in the context of politics? I am an anarchist. It took me much longer than it should have to realise that. My feelings and thoughts and values had always been what Noam Chomsky would describe as “socialist libertarian”. My understanding of that term in a nutshell is a…
Announcement: Two Students Named Finalists of the “21st Century Cup” National English-Speaking Competition (Hong Kong Region)
CHONG Michael Yat Tsun (Year 1, Faculty of Arts) and LEE Chiu Yin, Charlene (Year 3, ENG) represented HKBU in the semi-final of the “21st Century Cup” National English-Speaking Competition Hong Kong region (University Category), held at the British Council on 23 November 2019. Both of them advanced to the final, alongside three other contestants…
Our Stories @ ENG: Magdalen Ki
Our Stories @ ENG: A series in which teaching staff and students share their memories of the ENG Department to coincide with the 60th Anniversary of the department. [Read all entries.] [Revisit the “Pride of Place” series.] [Revisit the “Pet Sounds” series.] [Revisit the “Headspace” series.] [Revisit the “Ongoing” series.] [Revisit the “Interrogative” series.]…
Our Stories @ ENG: Chau Cheuk Man Charmaine
Our Stories @ ENG: A series in which teaching staff and students share their memories of the ENG Department to coincide with the 60th Anniversary of the department. [Read all entries.] [Revisit the “Pride of Place” series.] [Revisit the “Pet Sounds” series.] [Revisit the “Headspace” series.] [Revisit the “Ongoing” series.] [Revisit the “Interrogative” series.] (5…4…3…2…1…)…
Our Stories @ ENG: Jason S Polley
Our Stories @ ENG: A series in which teaching staff and students share their memories of the ENG Department to coincide with the 60th Anniversary of the department. [Read all entries.] [Revisit the “Pride of Place” series.] [Revisit the “Pet Sounds” series.] [Revisit the “Headspace” series.] [Revisit the “Ongoing” series.] [Revisit the “Interrogative” series.] Curmudgeon…
Our Stories @ ENG: Joanna Sio
Our Stories @ ENG: A series in which teaching staff and students share their memories of the ENG Department to coincide with the 60th Anniversary of the department. [Read all entries.] [Revisit the “Pride of Place” series.] [Revisit the “Pet Sounds” series.] [Revisit the “Headspace” series.] [Revisit the “Ongoing” series.] [Revisit the “Interrogative” series.] Learning…
Our Stories @ ENG: Pino Cao
Our Stories @ ENG: A series in which teaching staff and students share their memories of the ENG Department to coincide with the 60th Anniversary of the department. [Read all entries.] [Revisit the “Pride of Place” series.] [Revisit the “Pet Sounds” series.] [Revisit the “Headspace” series.] [Revisit the “Ongoing” series.] [Revisit the “Interrogative” series.] What…
Our Stories @ ENG: Mingxing Li
Our Stories @ ENG: A series in which teaching staff and students share their memories of the ENG Department to coincide with the 60th Anniversary of the department. [Read all entries.] [Revisit the “Pride of Place” series.] [Revisit the “Pet Sounds” series.] [Revisit the “Headspace” series.] [Revisit the “Ongoing” series.] [Revisit the “Interrogative” series.] Teaching…
Our Stories @ ENG: Jessica Siu-yin Yeung
Our Stories @ ENG: A series in which teaching staff and students share their memories of the ENG Department to coincide with the 60th Anniversary of the department. [Read all entries.] [Revisit the “Pride of Place” series.] [Revisit the “Pet Sounds” series.] [Revisit the “Headspace” series.] [Revisit the “Ongoing” series.] [Revisit the “Interrogative” series.] Thank…
Our Stories @ ENG: Nicole Lai
Our Stories @ ENG: A series in which teaching staff and students share their memories of the ENG Department to coincide with the 60th Anniversary of the department. [Read all entries.] [Revisit the “Pride of Place” series.] [Revisit the “Pet Sounds” series.] [Revisit the “Headspace” series.] [Revisit the “Ongoing” series.] [Revisit the “Interrogative” series.] One…
Our Stories @ ENG: Lui Ling Isabelle
Our Stories @ ENG: A series in which teaching staff and students share their memories of the ENG Department to coincide with the 60th Anniversary of the department. [Read all entries.] [Revisit the “Pride of Place” series.] [Revisit the “Pet Sounds” series.] [Revisit the “Headspace” series.] [Revisit the “Ongoing” series.] [Revisit the “Interrogative” series.] The…
Our Stories @ ENG: John Wakefield
Our Stories @ ENG: A series in which teaching staff and students share their memories of the ENG Department to coincide with the 60th Anniversary of the department. [Read all entries.] [Revisit the “Pride of Place” series.] [Revisit the “Pet Sounds” series.] [Revisit the “Headspace” series.] [Revisit the “Ongoing” series.] [Revisit the “Interrogative” series.] ENG’s…
Our Stories @ ENG: Tommy Wong Yuk Cheung
Our Stories @ ENG: A series in which teaching staff and students share their memories of the ENG Department to coincide with the 60th Anniversary of the department. [Read all entries.] [Revisit the “Pride of Place” series.] [Revisit the “Pet Sounds” series.] [Revisit the “Headspace” series.] [Revisit the “Ongoing” series.] [Revisit the “Interrogative” series.] Teachings…
Our Stories @ ENG: GiGi To Man Chee
Our Stories @ ENG: A series in which teaching staff and students share their memories of the ENG Department to coincide with the 60th Anniversary of the department. [Read all entries.] [Revisit the “Pride of Place” series.] [Revisit the “Pet Sounds” series.] [Revisit the “Headspace” series.] [Revisit the “Ongoing” series.] [Revisit the “Interrogative” series.] HKBU…
Our Stories @ ENG: Lian-Hee Wee
Our Stories @ ENG: A series in which teaching staff and students share their memories of the ENG Department to coincide with the 60th Anniversary of the department. [Read all entries.] [Revisit the “Pride of Place” series.] [Revisit the “Pet Sounds” series.] [Revisit the “Headspace” series.] [Revisit the “Ongoing” series.] [Revisit the “Interrogative” series.] A…
“Our Stories @ ENG”
[READ the published entries here.] . Every year since 2014, Agora, the blog of the Department of English Language and Literature at HKBU, has run a summer series inviting teaching staff and students (former, current, all levels) from the department to contribute their writing. Past topics included “Pride of Place” (2018), “Pet Sounds” (2017), “Headspace” (2016),…
HKBU Arts Does Method
ENDANGERED HUMANITIES AND ENDANGERED PLANET Professor Wai Chee Dimock, Yale University Date & time: Monday 3 June 2019; 16:30-18:00 Venue: OEM1008, Ho Sin Hang Campus, HKBU [Click HERE to register.] Beginning with the shared dangers faced by the humanities and the planet earth, Wai Chee Dimock uses her PMLA editor’s column to propose a new…
“On Xi Xi” by Tammy Lai-Ming Ho
Short speech delivered on Thursday 7 March 2019, at the 2019 Newman Festival (7-8 March 2019, University of Oklahoma): First, I must say that I am very honoured to be invited to be one of the jurors of the Newman Prize for Chinese Literature 2019, focusing on poetry. I didn’t need to think twice in…
